Editing Two-Way Stretch (section)

==Critical reception==
''[[Kinematograph Weekly|Kine Weekly]]'' called the film a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_kine-weekly_1960-12-15_523_2776/page/n7/mode/1up|last=Billings|first=Josh|magazine=Kine Weekly|date=15 December 1960|page=9|title=It's Britain 1, 2, 3 again in the 1960 box office stakes}}</ref>

''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote: "Jokes and situations borrowed from many a Service farce and laboured parodies of prisoner-of-war escape films are churned out by a familiar cast in a setting reminiscent of ''[[Convict 99]]''. Wilfrid Hyde White easily gives comic point to every unctuous line, but Peter Sellers disappoints after his performance in ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]'', as if neither he nor anyone else had worked out what sort of character he should give his convict. All in all, though, the pace and simple, rough humour of the story should guarantee the film a public."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1960 |title=Impact |journal=[[Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=27 |issue=312 |pages=40}}</ref>

In ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Bosley Crowther]] gave it a positive review, writing, "the script by John Warren and Len Heath follows a straight line and is clever and full of good Cockney wit. Robert Day's direction is lively, in the vein of civilized farce, and the performances are delicious, right down the line," concluding, "Mr. Sellers is still on the rise."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9903E1DA1739EE32A25757C2A9679C946091D6CF|title=Movie Reviews|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 November 2021}}</ref>

[[Leslie Halliwell]] wrote: "Amusing comedy with good performances and situations, unofficially borrowed in part from ''[[Convict 99]].''"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Halliwell |first=Leslie |title=Halliwell's Film Guide |publisher=Paladin |year=1989 |isbn=0-586-08894-6 |edition=7th |location=London |pages=1063}}</ref>

''The [[Radio Times]] Guide to Films'' gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "Fans of Peter Sellers rate this British venture, made before he started to believe his own publicity, as one of the best things he did. It's a prison comedy with a snarling stand-off between cocky convict Sellers, his cellmates Bernard Cribbins and David Lodge, and paranoid warden Lionel Jeffries. The plot – about a group of prisoners trying to break back into jail after a heist is wonderfully developed and there are delightful cameos along the way."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=[[Immediate Media Company]] |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=972}}</ref>